Episode 3 - How Critical Thinking Turns Packing Into A Better Trip

What if the way you pack is shaping the way you think—and the way your trip actually feels? We dive into a practical, mindset-first approach to travel where the bag becomes a tool, not a burden. Instead of rules and checklists, we use clear questions and real tradeoffs to decide between a small backpack, a larger pack, or full luggage across flights, drives, and long-haul trains.

We start with the two-question method that changes everything: What problem am I solving on this trip, and what have I learned from past trips that should change my approach? From there, we break down the time and stress costs that come with airports and checked bags, and why carry-on continuity can buy back focus at the gate, on the plane, and when you land. We get specific about backpack dimensions, compartments, and quick-access pockets, and how those choices speed you through security, boarding, and exit without waiting at the carousel.

Then we shift modes. Driving offers flexibility and access, but also tempts overpacking; we frame decisions around comfort versus control and show how smart placement—layers on top, cords in bright pouches, water on the side—keeps the car organized and your mind calm. On trains, the goal may be presence and scenery or deep downtime; either way, we design the bag to match the experience, staging power, snacks, and essentials so you can watch the landscape roll by or sink into a film without rummaging.

Along the way, we share lessons from three decades of travel, from overstuffed suitcases to a lean two-pack system that works for conferences, quick getaways, and cross-country routes. The takeaway is simple: stop packing for vague “what ifs” and start packing for outcomes. Ask better questions, remove one redundancy, add one stress reducer, and let your bag reflect the trip you actually want.

If this helped you think differently about packing and travel, follow the show, share it with a friend who overpacks, and leave a quick review telling us your go-to carry method and why. Your feedback helps more travelers find smarter, lighter ways to move.

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Transcript

Why Two Backpacks

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Through my travels, I found myself relying on just two backpacks. Not because luggage is wrong, but because my thinking has changed over time. Traveling more has a way of forcing you to ask different questions. What actually matters on the trip? What adds value? And of course, what just adds weight? Whether I'm flying, driving, or taking a train, the bag I choose isn't random. It reflects the way I want to move through the journey, mentally and physically. This episode isn't about telling you what to pack. It's about critical thinking showing up in everyday decisions, even in something as simple as choosing a bag. Today we're talking about backpacks, luggage, and how thinking differently about travel can change the experience entirely. The purpose of this episode is to think specifically about critical thinking in that aspects. And it's not setting up about rules of how to pack. No. So for me, this isn't about backpacks versus luggage. No. Instead, this is how my thinking has evolved. Travel enforces decisions we usually make besides on autopilot. So I'm not giving I'm not just giving advice, I'm sharing a thinking process. Because in that process, I have changed a lot from choosing luggage to backpacks. So let me set the stage. For me, luggage doesn't work as it used to. And what I mean specifically is that when you travel by plane, there's the cost of time and efficiency. So for those who know what I mean, when you go to an airport, you have your check-in and you have your carry-on luggage. The difference between these two things is that carry-on luggage means you carry it with you throughout the airport and you log it load it up on the plane. Now, check luggage is something different. Basically, it's luggage that you check in when you first get to the airport, so they kind of put it underneath the plane, and so you leave it there. Now the difference between the two processes is really simple. Check luggage, they take it from you and then they stow it underneath the plane, and then when you reach your destination, they put it onto a cave about, and that kind of puts it into like a little carousel when you go and pick up your luggage. Now, the difference is timing. For me, it's kind of taking away the time of leisure of where I'm going on traveling. So for me, that's why I choose backpacks as a carry-on option. So that's why I say I'm not talking about the difference between luggage and backpack and which one is wrong. No, I'm just saying for me, backpacks work for me based on my experience. So for me, I have a smaller backpack and a larger backpack. The shorter, smaller backpack is for short trips, and of course the larger backpack is for larger trips. The larger backpack to give people an idea is 10.5 inches by 22.5 times 17 inches. So those dimensions kind of give you an idea. So 22.5 inches in height, 10.5 width or no length, and width is about 17 inches. So that kind of gives you an idea of how big the backpack is for the large one. And I'm looking at the backpack right now, and it has three compartments, and two front pockets, and two sides pockets, and two other kind of expandable pockets on the side, like if you want to put a water bottle or maybe a water, some kind of container that carries water. So that kind of gives an idea. And this actually works for me a lot for larger trips. And of course, this episode is not about how I pack, but how I think about packing in that context. So let me ask you two questions. What problem am I asking, trying actually trying to solve on this trip? So when you pack, a lot of times people you know think about what to pack, how to pack, and all these different ideas. So the problem behind that is trying to solve what kind of bag works for your situation. And that's for me, that's the difference between I choose a smaller backpack and a larger backpack. If it's just like a one or two days, then the smaller backpack is fine. You know, it's not big, you know, just has two different pockets, one main pocket, one smaller apartment, smaller uh compartment, and then of course the front pocket, and of course the two sides, uh little mesh pockets. So you know it's not that big, but it gets the job done. And I think that's kind of the idea that for to solve the problem of a short trip, you don't want to carry a lot of luggage. And for me, we'll discuss a little bit more about the thought process between uh flying, driving, and taking a plane. I mean taking a train, sorry. So that's the part that I'm trying to talk about about how to solve those problems, about what I'm am I trying to do. Now, the second question for critical thinking part is what have I learned from past trips that change how I pack? Because sometimes when we think about how we pack, we think about the last time we were packing, you know, we think, well, that bag wasn't big enough, or we needed more stuff, or you know, we needed to carry on like a business suit, or we need to carry our laptops or computers, or wherever the case may be. And sometimes if it's just a quick getaway trip, you don't want all that clutter. So that's what I mean by thinking about in that process. And sometimes your past experiences actually help you with your critical thinking, not to be on autopilot, but gives you an idea. So let's move on to the three sections that I am focused on for this episode: flying, driving, and train. So with flying, it's about efficiency, movement, and mentally mentally being clear about these ideas. So flying compresses time and space because basically you're trading time time and money for how fast you want to get to your location. For instance, if you're driving from LA to Las Vegas, that's a four-hour trip. Versus a trip by plane is a 45-minute uh flight from Vegas to LA or Los Angeles to Vegas, so that kind of gives an idea. So, in that sense, you have to think about how is this gonna be efficient for me to travel? And of course, the same principles happen of how do you want to travel through that sense. So, less friction equals better headspace to kind of get the ball rolling. So, critically thinking, here are the questions that you should kind of think about. What does this bag help me move smoothly through the journey, or does it slow me down? Because that's what it comes down to is some and this is the the part that I talk about, the difference between luggage and backpacks for me. For me, I don't like to wait for my bag, so usually what I want to do at the airport is take my carry-on bag with me because it's faster and it's efficient. And of course, I know how to pack by now, and of course, we can say that for a different episode. But for me, that's the way I see it, and the luggage would just slow me down. Now, there will be listeners that are gonna say, well, luggage has shrunken a lot down, and it's you know, it can fit in the overhead bent the overhead compartments of a plane, and that's true. Don't get me wrong, that's very true. However, for me, a backpack comf kind of the comfort behind that is it has its shoulders I can carry on my backpack. That's the term backpack, but it helps me move a lot faster to move from point A to point B and point C, you know, from airport to security to the gate, and then when I get off the plane, of course, I just take it from the overhead, get through through the airport, and I go and get my transportation, so it's quick and fast. I don't have to wait for my luggage to arrive through the carousel and go through that song and dance because my time I feel is important and I don't want to waste it by waiting for that. And that's just me, of course, that's just me. But again, you know, how does this help me? Does it slow me down or does it move me faster? Now, the other question behind that is what choices reduce stress before the show even before it even shows up. So, what does that mean specifically? Well, basically, how does this appear of reducing stress? And like I said, stress for me is the time that I wait, you know, checking the bag and go through security and then go to the plane, and of course they take care of the luggage, but it's at the end of my trip because sometimes some plane travel I've taken about an hour and a half to you know, of course, 45 minutes is now a long trip, but you know, sometimes you might need to get to your destination quicker for some reason. You have to go to a conference or you need to have a meeting, and sometimes that time is gonna be valuable in those precious moments. So that's what I mean about reducing stress. So the critical thinking often happens before the problem exists. So that's what I'm trying to talk about of how to choose a bag in terms of flying. So let's move on. Driving. See, driving is a different beast within itself because you know, driving, you're riding along with friends or family, or you know, sometimes Uber, and you know, you're just getting from point A to point B, and it's not that big of a deal because you can have more access to your bags, and you know, you don't have to go through security, you know what I mean? Because with an airport, you go through security with you know, driving through, there's not too much security of how to pack your bag. If you're driving within the continental United States, of course, you if you go through some places where you have border control near the border states or along those ideas, then of course, you know, there is some security behind that. But normally, if you're driving through the other places of the United States, there's no point of having security in that regard. So this is where I'm talking about with flex flexibility, sorry, with control, adaptability, and fit f flexibility. Sorry about that. Um so based on that idea, the core reflections about car traveling is that you have more freedom to choose of what type of bag you have. And in this case, let's just say you're going on a very long trip and you're out, or let's just say that you're moving from one location to another location for job or school or for whatever the case may be. And in that case, yeah, you can take a luggage and a backpack, and because in those cases, you need more clothes, you need more things to carry with you. Let's just say you have a laptop or an iPad or something like that to help you do your schoolwork or your job or whatever the case may be. Then in that case, yes, you know, you have more freedom to add on more stuff, but then also the same idea is just how you think about in that sense. And for me, I still carry through the same ideas. I carry through the same ideas of a small backpack versus a large backpack, and it's just determined of how many days I'm gonna be staying at my destination. What am I going there for? And you know, when you drive a car, you have the luxury of getting out things, and let's just say you have a charger in one of the pockets, then it's easier to manage to get out, and so you can see that sometimes traveling by car gives a little more freedom in that sense. Now, a lot of this stuff may seem like common sense, but you still are using critical thinking behind that, and your mindset shifts in packing and how you move stuff in that atmosphere. So, critical thinking in this regard, you can think of it this way how much flexibility do I want on this trip? Now, how does that pertain to this? Well, like I said, how much X accessibility, I guess you could put it that way, do you want? Because, you know, like for instance, for me, sometimes I carry a sweater, and if I come from a warmer climate to a colder climate, then at least I can use one of the zippers. I know that I have my sweater on top of one of the top sections, so I quickly can pop that out and wear it kind of fast, so it's more flexible type of thing, and that's just an idea. But you can also think of it in this way am I packing for comfort or am I packing for control? Just like the example I just gave of the sweater of different climates, you know, you have to ask yourself in that same context about driving. Because are you driving for for packing in comfort or control? And that's kind of a really interesting point. Because when you're traveling by car, it's a different mode, and it did requires a different set of thinking skills, and it's not about more stuff, it's just thinking about how is this gonna be beneficial for me in this regard? So that kind of gives you that idea. So let's move on to the next part train. Now, a lot of you may not have the privilege or the option to travel by train, and some of you have. So, for those who haven't, train is a little more different, it's kind of like combining both airplane and driving, and it's basically you do have access to it even when you stow it away, and it gives you the idea to kind of pack in that sense, and also depends on how far you're going on your train ride. Because I actually took a train ride probably a couple uh years ago, and I traveled from Los Angeles to Chicago, and that was an interesting trip because for me I never experienced a longer trip like that before, especially a cross-country trip. So I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know how to think about it. But in a sense, for me to do a lot of critical thinking and planning and weigh the options, I said to myself, let me just take one bag because I do have access to a shower, I do have access to a room to myself, and that kind of made a lot of things simple for me because I want my luggage in my room and I don't want to carry a lot of stuff with me, so let me just carry my large backpack with me. So that was the logic behind that. So I guess in a critical thinking exercise for you, the audience, let me ask you a question: How does this bag allow me to present in the journey? Because when you are present in the journey, you know it makes you feel more interactive because again, you're not driving, you're not consistently driving, you're kind of like a passenger on a big car, basically, and you get to see all sorts of stuff, and sometimes you take a train for the experience to experience the audience, the whole experience of seeing everything all around you, and I think that's the thing that you have to think about is are you traveling for that sense to just be in that moment, or are you gonna be in the train looking on your phone and doing all these different things? Because you know, that's also changing your mindset of what to bring and how to pack. You might just bring a luggage with you and say, you know what, I'm gonna take my my all my clothes with me and you know not worry about anything because half the train I'm actually gonna just be in the observation cart and I'm gonna be on my phone because listening to music and watching the scenery all around me pass by me. Or you could just say, you know what, I'm just gonna download a lot of movies and be in my own in my own little seat and just watch stuff and not even manage. In that case, you're packing a different way because you're gonna be on your device a lot. So you can see how critical thinking can play in that regard. Of course, the other question you could be asking is what am I is what I'm carrying helping me enjoy the experience, or is it distracting me from it? Same thing I just mentioned. Is this something that is gonna help me enjoy the trip, or am I gonna just not want to see miles and miles of something? And for me, I grew up in the mountains, and for me, that's something that I noticed, that is something that I see, that's something that I take a lot of pleasure in, in seeing the huge mountains, the mountainsides, and it's it's interesting just to be in that atmosphere because when I took my plane, I mean I'm sorry, when I took my train ride, you know, across country, we left the mountain states, we left the plateaus, we left all of that, and it's just rolling hills, and it was just like, okay, so is there anything else? Before long, I found myself thinking, okay, so this is how the other part of the topographic is. So for me, I was just like, okay, I'm I'm over. So but it's interesting because that kind of brings up a lot of you know ideas within the critical sense of how to plan a trip. And of course, that's something for another episode, a future episode, but something for you guys to think about. So let's take a quick recap. Flying, driving, and taking a train. See, there are different ways of how and what to pack and what type of luggage or bag you should take. And again, I'm not telling you one is better or the other is horrible because for me, I've done a lot of traveling. In the span of 30 years, I've traveled a lot, not just moving from point A to point B into another city, but also traveling to different things, different conferences, different meetings, different even vacations. And every experience this has led me up to where I'm at now. So that's why I talk about the evolution for me of originally taking luggage of having three or four you know things that I carry, you know, huge luggage, a medium-sized luggage, and a backpack. And then when you kind of get to the point of like, what is really important? So for me, when I'm traveling by plane, you know, I want to get through the airport situation as quickly as possible, put my pl my stuff in the overhead bin, and it doesn't matter if it's you know, small backpack or large backpack, just depends on what I'm going for. So as you can see, it I'm trading up time for that. And again, that's what I'm trying to express to you guys within the critical thinking of traveling, what to expect with that. Now, with traveling by card, you know, you have the luxury of you know, all three luggage, small backpack, large backpack, and it just depends what you're taking. But the critical engaging question behind that is in my do I need all these things when I'm traveling? Because it's funny that I met some. Someone not too long ago, and they had three huge luggage, and they were only there for four days. And I was asking them, Do you really need all this stuff? And ironically enough, they told me, You know what? I overpacked because I thought I was gonna need more stuff, but I really didn't wear all these clothes, I didn't use everything that was needed, and one of the back there, one of their luggage was so heavy for me, I could barely pull it across. And the person I was helping was a little bit shorter than me and a little bit smaller than me. And I was thinking, wow, you carry this from the airport to your hotel, and I could see in my sense, all I did for myself was just carry a backpack, you know, for my whole you know, days that I was uh part of a conference, so you can see how that works out in terms of a car and plane. So it just kind of determines on what your purpose is, what your goals are. So as I was saying, the takeaway behind all this is what to bring. So in that sense, you know, what bags are necessary, and it's just about thinking different, different outcomes. Because, you know, on the plane, you have different thinking of how you want to move, if if time is important or if it's a leisure within driving, it's the same situation. You know, what do you want to have access to while you're you know, while you're driving? Is some of your charging cords to your phone or your iPad or whatever the case may be, your laptop, part of the the packing stuff in your bag? And the same thing goes for you know traveling by train because you know you have the best of both worlds, but again, it's just dependent on how you're gonna get from point A to point B and how long the trip is, and even when you reach the destination, how much stuff do you actually need? And a lot of people will say, Well, what about A, what about B, what about C, and just bring up different things, and that's what I'm trying to explain the critical thinking process behind it. And a lot of people say, you know what, that's a lot of thinking, and that's just too many things to think about, so I'm just gonna pack whatever I want, and that's okay, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just that we in this day and age we tend to go by autopilot, and we don't think critically about some of these things, and sometimes we ask ourselves, do we really need to bring this? Do we need really need to bring that? Because most of the time we're just bringing extra stuff, more weight, more stuff. And you know, let's just put it this way let's just say you want to travel to some travel destination, and when you get there, you want to pick up pick up all these souvenirs. Then in this case, if you're driving, then you have a whole suitcase of things, and you know, you have a suitcase to put everything in, and then you save space on the way back. So that's what I mean. Thinking critically about what your objective is. Why are you going here? What's the purpose? For how long, and what's your you know, what's your outcome? What do you want to get from you know, a luggage, a backpack, small backpack, large backpack? And for me, like I said, I carry a backpack in two different sizes because it fits me, and that's how I work in that sense. That's how my mind thinks. So let me express this idea. Critical thinking isn't abstract, it shows up in small decisions that repeat all the time. So, in the case of this, I try to express how critical thinking ex is exists in this framework. So I'm not trying to give you instructions of how to pack or how to pack in the future, but have a curiosity about critical thinking and all these different ideas. And then not setting rules about how to pack or what not to pack, but just a reflection. The next time you pick up a bag, next time you're going somewhere, next time you're making plans for some kind of journey, for maybe an overnight or even several day vacation, then think about these ideas about critical thinking, about what is needed, what is not needed. Because I think if you take maybe about 15 minutes and ask yourself some of these questions, then it will kind of engage your critical thinking skills. And you know, I want to leave you with a little part of this idea. The way we pack often reflects the way we think, and changing one thing can change the other. So in a way, you are kind of changing the idea of how you think in a more critical way. So I want to thank my listeners for listening to this episode. It was something I wanted to do, but it was part of something else, and I think it was a pretty good episode. I honestly think that it was engaging and was good to the point, and I sure hope you enjoyed it. I do want to kind of apologize real quickly because I'm actually recording in a different location, and you can hear things that normally wouldn't appear. So in episodes one and two, it was a different atmosphere. In this episode, you hear other things in the background. So we caught some of those things, just think of it as just some happy noises, and we'll leave it at that. So I thank you for joining me. I do appreciate it. I do have a special guest with me right now. They're nice and furry and looking at me with blue eyes, and they're telling me that it's time for me to go. So, with that being said, I wanted to thank everyone for joining me. And if you're listening to this, regardless day or night, I want to leave you by saying, I hope you have a good day, I hope you have a good afternoon, I hope you have a good evening, good morning, good night. I'll see you later until next time. So, with that being said, take care of yourself and create yourself a great day, as someone once told me.